Generally, in a web-based search on an Internet search engine, a user enters a search term comprising one or more keywords, which the search engine then uses to generate a search result list comprising of web pages that the user may access via a hyperlink. There are many ways in which a search engine can return the results list. There are search engines that use automated search technology, which relies in large part on complex, mathematics-based database search algorithms that select and rank web pages based on multiple criteria such as keyword density and keyword location. The search results generated by such mechanisms often rely on blind mathematical formulas and may be random and even irrelevant. These search engines often catalog search results that rely on invisible web site descriptions, or “meta tags”, that are authored by web site promoters. It is not uncommon for web site owners to tag their sites as they choose in attempt to attract additional consumer attention at little to no marginal cost and no guarantee that the website's content is actually relevant to the meta tags used on its site.
Internet advertising can offer a level of targetability, interactivity, and measurability not generally available in other media. With the proper tools, Internet advertisers have the ability to direct and target their messages to specific groups of consumers and receive prompt feedback as to the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns such as the services offered by commercial search engine providers such as Overture (overture.com). Many of the traditional paradigms of advertising and search engine algorithms fail to offer appropriate options to businesses or advertisers or to maximize the delivery of relevant information via the web to interested parties in a cost-effective manner for those businesses and advertisers. Ideally, web site promoters or advertisers should be able to control their placement in search result listings so that their listings appear in searches that are relevant to the content of their web site and to control their mode of participation and any associated costs so that such listings are desirable or effective for their marketing objectives in using a commercial search engine. Search engine functionality needs to facilitate an online marketplace which offers consumers quick, easy and relevant search results while providing Internet advertisers and promoters with a cost-effective way to target consumers in a manner they determine most appropriate for their business goals. In this online marketplace, companies selling products, services, or information will be able to determine the options that best suit its advertising and cost needs and appear in desirable positions on a search result list generated by an Internet search engine.
Since advertisers generally must pay for each referral generated through the search result lists generated by the search engine, advertisers have an incentive to select and bid on those search keywords that are most relevant to their web site offerings and are most likely to achieve their marketing goals, e.g. inducing searchers to purchase the advertisers products or services.
A referral can be of any one of a number of types. One type of referral is an impression referral, whereby the advertiser's listing appears in the search results list. Another type of referral is a click-through referral, whereby a consumer clicks on the advertiser's listing. Still another type of referral is an action referral, whereby after the consumer has clicked on the advertiser's listing, the consumer takes further action in connection with the advertiser's web site. These further actions include, for example, actions such as registering with the advertiser's site, participating in a promotion in connection with the advertiser's site, and/or purchasing a good or service from the advertiser. Advertisers can bid on one or more of the various types of referrals. In the case where the advertiser bids on more than one type of referral, a bid will comprise multiple elements, one element per type of referral bid upon. The higher the market value of an advertiser's bid, the higher the advertiser's position on a search result list. The higher an advertiser's position on a search result list, the higher the likelihood of a referral; that is, the higher the likelihood that a consumer will be referred to the advertiser's web site through the search result list by clicking on the result in that position on the page.
The advertiser influences a position for a search listing in the advertiser's account by first selecting a search term relevant to the content of the web site or other information source to be listed. The advertiser enters the search term and the description into a search listing. The advertiser influences the position for a search listing through a continuous online competitive bidding process. The bidding process occurs when the advertiser enters a new bid amount, which is preferably a money amount, for a search listing. The commercial search engine then compares this bid amount with all other bid amounts for the same search term, and generates a rank value for all search listings having that search term. The rank value generated by the bidding process determines where the advertiser's listing will appear on the search results list page that is generated in response to a query of the search term by a searcher or user on the computer network. A higher bid by an advertiser will usually result in a higher rank value and a more advantageous placement although other factors besides bids may also be considered in ranking the search results.
Thus, when a user performs a search on such a search engine, the results are conventionally sorted based on how much each advertiser has bid on the user's search term. Because different users will use different words to find the same information, it is important for an advertiser to bid on a wide variety of search terms in order to maximize the traffic to his site. The better and more extensive an advertiser's list of search terms, the more traffic the advertiser can generate for their website. In cases where the advertiser is able to track relative keyword performance for directing traffic to their website.
However, selecting search terms by an advertiser can be a challenge. Good search terms have three significant properties: they are relevant to the advertiser's site content, they are popular enough that many users are likely to search on them, and they provide good value in terms of the expected return from the traffic they send to the advertiser's website. An advertiser willing to take the time to consider all these factors may get good results. Selecting successful bidding strategies using conventional tools can also be unpredictable because such conventional tools do not take converted transactions into account and cannot aggregate price change data over time. Not only do values of search keywords change over time, conventional tools for helping select a bidding strategy fail to make recommendations for a search based upon converted transactions or other individual advertiser objectives influenced by time.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved database search system and method of determining a value of a keyword in a search over time.